The rhetorical design of Isaiah 40-48/55 : : Zion's incomparable saviour and his servants / / by Pieter van der Lugt.

• Superior document: Oudtestamentische studiën ; Volume 82
• VerfasserIn: Lugt, Pieter van der (Biblical scholar),
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, The Netherlands ;, Boston : : Brill,, [2022]; ©2022
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Series: Oudtestamentische studiën ; Volume 82.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (730 pages)
• Notes: This book analyzes the `strophic' structure of the poems in Isaiah 40-48 and discusses the consequence of this approach for their interpretation. Among other things, the autor takes a critical stand as to the `redaktionsgeschichtliche' approach of the poems concerned.

In this volume, Pieter van der Lugt offers a comprehensive analysis of the rhetorical structure of Isaiah. As in his previous studies on the Book of Job and the Psalter the author demonstrates that classical Hebrew poetry displays a well-defined structure consisting of balanced main parts (cantos) and subdivision into strophes. This rhetorical starting point is of crucial importance for the delimitation of the individual poems in Isaiah 40-48 and in many cases determines their interpretation. Subsequently, it is demonstrated that the successive compositions form well-defined and coherent cycles of poems.

Table of Contents

Preface -- Abbreviations -- I Looking Back and Forward -- 1 Delimitation of Poems in Isaiah 40–55: Various Methods, Coinciding Objectives -- 2 Methodology -- II Prologue: Isaiah 40,1–11 -- 1 Isaiah 40,1–8 -- 2 Isaiah 40,9–11 -- III The First Cycle: Isaiah 40,12–41,29 -- 1 Isaiah 40,12–26 -- 2 Isaiah 40,27–31 -- 3 Isaiah 41,1–7 -- 4 Isaiah 41,8–16 -- 5 Isaiah 41,17–20 -- 6 Isaiah 41,21–29 -- IV The Second Cycle: Isaiah 42,1–44,5 -- 1 Isaiah 42,1–12 -- 2 Isaiah 42,13–17 -- 3 Isaiah 42,18–25 -- 4 Isaiah 43,1–8 -- 5 Isaiah 43,9–15 -- 6 Isaiah 43,16–21 -- 7 Isaiah 43,22–28 -- 8 Isaiah 44,1–5 -- V The Third Cycle: Isaiah 44,6–45,25 -- 1 Isaiah 44,6–8 -- 2 Isaiah 44,9–20 -- 3 Isaiah 44,21–23 -- 4 Isaiah 44,24–45,8 -- 5 Isaiah 45,9–13 -- 6 Isaiah 45,14–25 -- VI The Fourth Cycle: Isaiah 46–48 -- 1 Isaiah 46,3–13 -- 2 Isaiah 47 -- 3 Isaiah 48,1–19 -- 4 Isaiah 46,1–2 and 48,20–21 -- VII Systematic Observations or an Introduction to the Design of Biblical Hebrew Poetry -- 1 Canto Design of Isaiah 40–55 in Terms of Poetic Lines -- 2 Word Repetitions at Strategic Positions -- 3 Tricola and the Structure of Poems -- 4 Transition Markers -- 5 Numerical Perfection and Meaning -- 6 Abrupt Switches at the End of a Poem -- VIII The Rhetorical Design of Isaiah 40–55 in Terms of Cycles of Poems -- 1 Previous Research -- 2 Prologue: Isaiah 40,1–11 -- 3 Cycle I (40,12–41,29): Unmasking the Gods -- 4 Cycle II (42,1–44,5): There is a Way Home -- 5 Cycle III (44,6–45,25): Cyrus is the Agent -- 6 Cycle IV (Isaiah 46–48): Babylon’s Ruin -- 7 Cycle V (49,1–50,3): The Return to Zion -- 8 Cycle VI (50,4–52,12): Summons to Awake -- 9 Cycle VII : Trust in God (52,13–55,13) -- 10 Overall Design Isaiah 40–55 -- 11 Special Bibliography -- Appendix I : Poetic Design of Cycles V – VII and Isaiah 35: A Provisional Survey -- Appendix II : Shared Significant Vocabulary: An Outline -- Glossary -- General bibliography.